Clare Rothschild

Ms. Rothschild answered these questions in the summer of 2013. She joined the Alumni Council in the fall of 2012.

Why did you decide to pursue a degree at the University of Chicago Divinity School?

I chose between Harvard Divinity School and the University of Chicago based on the two respective Early Christian Literature/New Testament faculty at these institutions. I selected Chicago because I was impressed by Hans Dieter Betz and because my husband had obtained work in Chicagoland.

How did the program at the Divinity School and the wider University prepare you for your current work?

The Divinity School prepared me for my current work mainly by individual faculty refusing to relent on the highest standards in the field.

What do you do in your non-professional life?

I continue to live in Hyde Park where, in addition to spending many hours holed up in my office reading, researching, writing, and editing, I also raise two teenaged boys, run to blow off steam, and persist in my passion: the cello.

Why did you agree to serve on the Alumni Council?

Sometimes I like to refer to myself as the anomalous University of Chicago "cheerleader." I think that high standards in the study of religion are imperative - perhaps more crucial today than ever - and that dialogue between mature, adequately nuanced expressions of faith, agnosticism, and atheism have the potential to make the universe a more humane, safer, and better place for all living things.